


Again

by aishahiwatari



Series: Trektober 2019 [17]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fade to Black, First Dates, First Kiss, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Break Up, Rebound Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 04:22:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21068780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aishahiwatari/pseuds/aishahiwatari
Summary: It’s all terrible. Jim’s reeling, still bitter and there’s no closure at all, just an overwhelming sense that he must have done something wrong, somehow, even though they insisted it wasn’t him.So when the gorgeous guy who lives down the hall, the one he speaks to occasionally, who has always been friendly, asks him out, he shouldn’t say yes, so soon, but he does anyway.He falls way too hard, too fast. But it feels so damn good.(for day 17 of Trektober 2019, prompt: Rebound relationship)





	Again

The breakup’s pretty bad. Jim’s never really been in a relationship before, has never allowed himself to be so vulnerable and to get so hurt, and he’s realising why, when every morning he wakes up alone suddenly feels like a wrench, when everything he sees or hears or even smells seems to bring to mind a memory that should have been pleasant but now just reminds him of his loss. He had a routine, he realises, that revolved around that relationship, and now it’s shattered he never really feels like he has any idea what to do with himself.

He tries all the so-called cures suggested by his friends. There’s plenty of ice cream, sitting at home crying over movies, letting himself be sad, those first few days. It’s all terrible. He’s reeling, still bitter and there’s no closure at all, just an overwhelming sense that he must have done something wrong, somehow, even though they insisted it wasn’t him.

So when the gorgeous guy who lives down the hall, the one he speaks to occasionally, who has always been friendly, asks him out, he shouldn’t say yes, so soon, but he does anyway.

He falls way too hard, too fast. But it feels so damn good.

Their first date is just dinner and a movie, and the conversation flows, and it turns out they know a lot of the same people, and they have a lot in common. Jim talks too much about himself, embarrassingly grateful for the interest, but Bones is kind and attentive, if a little bemused occasionally at some of Jim’s oversharing.

He vows to tone it down. Bones says it’s fine and seems to genuinely mean it. He’s starkly brilliant and darkly witty and he lights up when he laughs but he’s at his most intensely captivating when he’s coaxed into ranting about something that aggravates him.

Jim teases him, just to get that reaction, sometimes, the scowl and the rolled eyes and the arched brow. The nickname is one of the things that sets him off, at first, but he gets used to it, and Jim’s not calling him Leonard, that’s just ridiculous. It’s nice to have something that’s just for the two of them, while also not being some sort of obvious pet name.

They’re already going home to the same building, so they walk back together. Jim’s a little giddy, has never been great at spending too much time alone but he’s felt pretty isolated, since-

He threads his fingers through Bones’ and sees him smile as he squeezes Jim’s hand.

It’s been a long time since he’s been on a first date. Bones says it has for him too, and Jim’s considering attempting to have good intentions but when he’s invited in for coffee and Bones shrugs his jacket off and Jim can see the outline of the muscles in his shoulders through his shirt, has been staring at steady, capable hands for hours, is caught ogling in that moment and earns that quirk of a brow-

Fuck it.

He pushes into Bones’ arms and kisses him, is kissed back like Bones has been thinking about it all night too, like he’s starving for it, and it’s a rush he hasn’t felt in so long. He’s missed this, in all its forms, and this is the best combination of fumbling to please someone new and getting to know a lover.

He’s guided down onto soft sheets while he’s still reeling from the sensation, and he’d been hoping for a frantic rut in the hallway and coming in his jeans like a teenager, but this is so much better.

Bones slows him down every time he tries to rush them until he lays back and is happy to bask in the attention. He wants to touch that expanse of tanned skin, set his lips to the lines of defined muscle, lap at the drops of sweat rolling down Bones’ neck, but he holds off, on the condition he’s allowed to return it all later.

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Bones assures him, and they’re the last coherent words either of them speak for a while.

-

It’s so much easier when they live in the same building. They’d barely see each other, if they had to be making plans to meet elsewhere. Jim is always up early to work in Scotty’s auto shop and Bones works difficult hours. He’s a doctor, and Jim had always thought he hated those, but when he confesses that, Bones just laughs and says he thinks he hates them sometimes, too.

They always find time to spend together, even if it’s just watching a movie on the couch together in the evening, usually in Bones’ apartment because he’s mastered the art of grocery shopping that still eludes Jim. He can cook, though, and it’s not long before he has a key and Bones’ schedule so they can eat together when he’s finished his shift, even if neither of them is up for anything more.

“You have a key? Haven’t you been dating for about three weeks?” Scotty asks him, when he mentions that at work one day, just in passing.

“Three weeks Friday.”

“Isn’t that- a bit soon?”

“I have a key, Scotty, we’re not engaged. And we’re neighbours.”

Scotty isn’t convinced. Jim forgets about the conversation, but it’s not the last one he has.

“Don’t you think you should, you know, get around a little before you go tying yourself down to committing again?” Gaila asks, casually enough, as they play video games one Saturday. She keeps throwing grenades at him even though they’re supposed to be on the same side, and Jim’s beginning to wonder if she’s doing it on purpose.

“Why? It’s going pretty well.”

“It’s just- are you even over the last one yet?”

Jim feels a sudden, uneasy lurch in his chest. He hasn’t thought about that in a while. It could still be festering away inside of him somewhere. “I hardly even think about that anymore.”

Gaila looks unconvinced.

She looks even less convinced when Bones picks that moment to let himself into Jim’s apartment to borrow a roll of toilet paper because he can’t make it to the store until tomorrow morning.

He nods amiably enough to Gaila even though, Jim notices, he’s kind of tangled up with her under a blanket on the couch, just shoots Jim a wink and blows him a kiss on the way out. He’s so cute. Jim smiles dumbly after him for a moment after he leaves.

“What the hell was that?” Gaila shrieks, dropping her controller to hit him repeatedly with a cushion. “Are you two living together? Have you been married for six years? He’s borrowing toilet paper!”

“Would you prefer he went without?” Jim’s grabbed a cushion to hit her back, and it devolves into rolling around on the floor, cursing and laughing at each other breathlessly.

“It’s just weird, Jim,” Gaila says afterwards, too gently for it to be a joke. She’s genuinely concerned.

-

“Is something wrong?” Bones asks him, that evening, when Jim’s dwelling on her words, because of course he does. He’s sweet and attentive and Jim is being entirely unfair to him.

“It’s just- do you think we’re taking this too fast?”

Bones looks startled, then wounded. Jim rushes to fix his stupid mistake. “No! I mean. I don’t. But people have just said a few things, and I know- you know I got out of a big thing just before this, and- I don’t know. I’m not the best judge of- all this.”

“Me neither,” Bones confesses, but he’s looking wary beneath his rueful smile and Jim hates himself for ruining their evening, for always ruining everything. “I guess- damnit, I should have told you this before, I just. It sounds bad. I always saw you. In the hall, you know. With them. And alone. And the more I got to know you, the more- I wanted to get to know you better. I should have waited, I know, after you broke up but- I thought we’d be good together and I couldn’t stand the thought of you finding someone else before we gave this a try.”

“That’s- kind of stalkery.”

“Yeah. It sounds bad. But this is good, isn’t it?“ He looks a little desperate, and Jim rushes to reassure him.

“Yes! This is great! Bones, I’m so happy with you. We’re just- doing all those things everybody says not to, and I’m terrified of losing this, or screwing it up, or taking you for granted. And- now I’m a little worried about not living up to your expectations.”

“I have very low expectations.”

Jim snorts, steps up and wraps his arms around Bones, rests his head on his shoulder. “I’ve heard enough rants to doubt that statement.”

Bones sighs, but Jim can feel him relax a little. “You want to change anything about what we do?”

“No! That’s just it. I love this, I-“ Jim stops, because he has to, because the realisation hits him like a ton of bricks and he practically staggers with the force of it. “I love you,” he says, before he can overthink it, because the only thing that’s ever made him scared of losing this is caring too much about what everyone else thinks.

Bones squeezes him tight, kisses his cheek, draws back to look him in the eye and smiles that smile that lights up a room and makes Jim’s heart squeeze with that sensation he can now name. “I love you,” he says back, and Jim’s going to throw so many grenades at Gaila and replace Scotty’s coffee with decaf because this is the best thing that’s ever happened to him, no matter the timing.

The sex that night is horrifyingly emotional, all long, slow kisses and staring into each other’s eyes and murmuring declarations of love like there’s no way they could possibly ever tire of saying it.

Screw everybody else, Jim thinks, afterwards, as he snuggles into Bones’ chest. He’s keeping this one.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m also on [Tumblr](https://aishahiwatari.tumblr.com/)


End file.
